One of the advantages of centralized purchasing is to obtain a reduction in cost by combining the needs of more than one location. This provides economies of scale and allows the buyer to obtain discounts from larger quantity orders. But even if you have a decentralized organization and work for a small company, you can still obtain some of this same advantage if you are buying for more than one requester.

For example, if you are buying various MRO items, such as office supplies, for a number of different employees, you can obtain the advantages of quantity discounts by encouraging requesters to only order on certain days of the week or month, and then by accumulating requisitions and the quantities of the same item so you can place the order for the same products at the same time.

Savings are not only obtained from the economies of scale, but are also obtained from the reduction in administrative cost. The reduction in the number of transactions saves the buyer’s time in eliminating multiple orders, saves the time of receiving clerks, and saves accounting time by reducing the number of invoices that must be processed.

One problem connected with this recommendation is that it is normal that requesters want their needs satisfied immediately. They must be convinced that it is to their advantage to plan their requirements. It is easier to get cooperation if you use diplomacy and point out the cost saving advantages to the organization and perhaps even to them individually if they are working with a budget.